Founders
Videos: Free space for ideas - start-up stories from East Brandenburg
In these videos, we portray founders from the districts of Oder-Spree, Märkisch Oderland and Frankfurt (Oder), their ideas and offers and show the unique beauty of the region in atmospheric landscape shots. The aim of the campaign is to make East Brandenburg better known as a "free space for ideas", to tell success stories and to promote the region as an attractive place to live, work and start a business.
Founder story: the artist Lava Mouslam and her café
From Aleppo to the Oder: Lava Mouslam fled from the war in Syria to Germany in 2015. From her hometown of Aleppo, she eventually came to Frankfurt (Oder) to study via a programme for refugees at the European University Viadrina. She continues to process her eventful experiences in her art to this day. To the video.
Founder story: The art and culture shop Kukuryku!
Discover unique art in a cosy living room atmosphere. Kukuryku! is not a gallery. The art and culture shop in the twin city of Frankfurt (Oder) - Slubice sees itself as a cosy meeting place for young and old, for art lovers and art philistines. It is a place to come together, a showcase for the large and diverse art and cultural landscape of the twin city, which the people behind the shop are passionate about and want to promote. To the video
Status Flow founder story: Rebecca Meyer and Anna Dick
Rebecca Meyer and Anna Dick know each other from their Master's degree programme in Peace and Conflict Research in Marburg. As long-time friends, they founded their company Status Flow after graduating and support start-up teams in dealing constructively with conflicts. The Viadrina Founders Center accompanied the two of them on the path to a successful start-up. To the video
Founder story Roman and Fritz: German-Polish coworking
Roman and Fritz is a German-Polish coworking space in the centre of Frankfurt (Oder). Here you can work on to-dos in a relaxed atmosphere. In the video, founder Dawid Schaffranke explains what inspires him about his own start-up, how he supports founders in realising their ideas and why Frankfurt (Oder) is a good place to get started. To the video
Founder story Conntect: Smart business card
Adrian Mock and Ali Özdemir studied Internationale Betriebswirtschaftslehre at Viadrina and founded their own company together with a programmer. Thanks to their Conntect Card, a smart business card, contact information can be accurately and conveniently transferred to the other person's mobile phone. To the video
Gründerinnenstory GemüseGut: Solidarische Landwirtschaft
This video shows the world of community-supported agriculture (SoLaWi) and introduces founder Nadine Peinelt from GemüseGut in Reudnitz, who explains her sustainable agriculture, fresh vegetables straight from the field and the passion behind her concept.
Founder story Peaceful Delicious: Tempeh from Brandenburg
Tempeh is widespread in Asia. The vegan food made from fermented pulses is also becoming increasingly popular in Germany. The start-up Peaceful Delicious from Beeskow produces tempeh from soya, beans and chickpeas - so far the only company in Brandenburg to do so. To the video
Founder story Andrea Möbus: Horse-assisted coaching
Andrea Möbus grew up on a farm with horses, trained as an equestrian and obtained various equestrian licences. She founded her own company in 2019 and offers horse-assisted training as well as online coaching. Together with her horse Nico, she accompanies people who want to develop personally. To the video
Founder story: The advertising agency Kora Media from Fürstenwalde
.Jan Kornek and Ronny Fonfara tend to be behind the camera in their day-to-day work: with Kora Media, they have fulfilled their dream of running their own company in Fürstenwalde (Spree). Kora Media started out as a film production company around ten years ago and has since developed into a classic advertising agency that designs campaigns, image films and advertising material for medium-sized companies and implements them with a team that now consists of six people. To the video
Founder story of care nurses: care service from Märkisch-Oderland
Care at the limit: little appreciation, poor pay and constant time pressure. Yvonne Ritterbach and her team responded to the shortcomings in the care sector by setting up their own care service in Fredersdorf-Vogelsdorf near Berlin. To the video
Podcast: Local heroes
In our "Local Heroes" interview series, we introduce movers and shakers from the Oder-Spree Lakeland who are helping to shape the region with passion, perseverance and a lot of love for their homeland. Listen in and discover the freedom for ideas!
The "Local Heroes" podcast was created as part of the project "Start-up ecosystem on the Spree-Oder innovation axis". Funded by: The Federal Government Commissioner for Eastern Germany.
#Commitment, #innovation, #culture: Ira Helten, founder of iraklebt, uses these keywords to describe the city of Frankfurt (Oder), where she lives, works and studies. In the interview series "Local Heroes", the founder of the feminist online shop talks about her unplanned path to self-employment and why she recommends that students take advantage of the services offered by the Viadrina Founders Center. She explains which doors her own start-up has opened and why Frankfurt (Oder) is a good place to turn ideas into reality.
From delicate to trendy: Enis Savmaz's products feature Frankfurt landmarks such as the Oder Tower or the city bridge in colourful pastel shades. The motto of his StadtKapital label is #BraunIstOut. In the interview, Enis explains how a school trip from Cologne brought him to Frankfurt (Oder) and why he now sees himself as an ambassador for the city. As an alumni of the European University Viadrina, the Viadrina Founders Center accompanied him on his way to founding his company.
Maria Ullrich's voice is familiar to many from the radio: she hosts her own programme on Oderwelle and works at club radio station Pure FM. She now brings her experience of organising the German-Polish theatre festival Unithea in the early years of her studies at the European University Viadrina to bear as production manager at the Berlin artists' collective Panzerkreuzer Rotkäppchen. As DJ Gräfin Zobel, she plays soul, funk and disco sets. In the interview, Maria talks about the advantage of short distances, the magic of chance and how she sees Frankfurt (Oder) in 10 years' time.
Lukas Kunzmann is studying Cultural Studies at the European University Viadrina and has developed @kara_limo together with his friend Jost Neumann. The Viadrina Founders Center is currently supporting both of them on their way to setting up their own company. Find out how the team came up with the idea for the caffeinated lemonade and what it has to do with an election observation in El Salvador in the podcast with Lukas.
#potential, #family, #secretlyinternational: these are the hashtags used by founder Adrian Mock to describe the city of Frankfurt (Oder). He studied Internationale Betriebswirtschaftslehre at the European University Viadrina and founded the company Conntect together with his fellow student Ali Özdemir. Thanks to their smart business card, contact information can be accurately and conveniently transferred to the other person's mobile phone. In the interview with Adrian, you can find out why Frankfurt (Oder) is a good place to start, what the conntect team would do differently today and where they see themselves in the coming years.
Claudia Bostelmann enjoys the freedom to realise her own ideas: After co-founding a nature kindergarten in Bad Saarow, the state-recognised educator is now setting up her own company, Ideenwerkstatt Firlefanz. Her services, which focus on nature education, include further training for educational professionals, parent counselling and hiking days. In the interview, Claudia talks about what drives her and what she wants to do differently with her second start-up.
Jan Kornek and Ronny Fonfara tend to be behind the scenes in their day-to-day work: With KORA Media, they fulfilled their dream of running their own production company 10 years ago. They now develop campaigns, image films and web design for small and medium-sized companies with their advertising agency in Fürstenwalde (Spree) and realise them with a team of six. Jan explains in an interview why the combination of the "wacky, communicative philosopher" and the "down-to-earth nerd" has lasted to this day and where the two draw their strength.
She is an entrepreneur, consultant, female innovator, regional enthusiast and start-up coach: Laura de Amorim has many talents. The founder of the coworking space SpreeHub in Fürstenwalde (Spree) talks about the benefits of self-employment for parents and her vision for Fürstenwalde as the ideal place to work in the "Local Heroes" interview series. You can find out what start-ups have in common with flowers and why she recommends networking with other founders.
A few years ago, André Hansen came to Frankfurt (Oder) after working in Storkow and Fürstenwalde. He founded his company "Mein Versicherungsmakler" in 2016 and advises private and business customers on everything from liability insurance to legal expenses insurance - independent of specific providers. His involvement as district spokesman for the Wirtschaftsjunioren and the large number of company visits has definitely changed his view of the region. Listen in now!